If you needed an extra twist of the arm to set off on a Hawaii vacation, here it is: The big-wave state was the happiest place to live in 2009, according to a newly released national survey.

Topping the well-being list among all 50 states, Hawaii pulled ahead of the 2008 leader Utah. But Utah and its neighbors still have plenty to smile about. Nine of the top 10 well-being states reside in the Midwest and the West. The south didn't fare so well, taking seven of the 11 lowest well-being spots on the list.

The results come from interviews with more than 350,000 American adults who took part in the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index in 2009. This is the second year of the survey.

The well-being score for each state is an average of six sub-categories, including: life evaluation (self-evaluation about your present life situation and anticipated one in five years); emotional health; work environment (such as job satisfaction); physical health; healthy behavior; basic access (access to healthcare, a doctor, a safe place to exercise and walk, as well as community satisfaction).

The top 10 states and their average well-being scores (out of a possible 100 points):

In case any of you haven't heard, Haiti was hit by a 7 point earthquake and much of the nation was leveled. They think the death toll could possibly be as high as 500,000. I just wanted to ask all of you to send your prayers their way. If there are any relief efforts stemming from Kansas (food, clothes, blood drives, etc), I hope that many of us lend a hand that way as well.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Rod Blagojevich apologized Monday for saying he's "blacker than Barack Obama," but the disgraced former Illinois governor said he probably won't try to make amends directly to the president.

"I'd be happy to but, you know, I don't have the phone number," he told reporters outside his Chicago home.

In the February issue of Esquire magazine, the ousted governor, semi-professional Elvis impersonator and reality TV contestant refers to Obama as "this guy" who was elected based simply on hope, implying that the president isn't genuine.

"What the (expletive)? Everything he's saying's on the teleprompter," Blagojevich told the magazine. The story hits newsstands on Jan. 19.

"I'm blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived," Blagojevich said. "I saw it all growing up."

On Monday, Blagojevich said the comment was "stupid, stupid, stupid."

He said it was meant as a metaphor for his disappointment with Obama, whom he accused of doing more to help Wall Street than Main Street.

The White House declined to comment.

The response — or lack of response — is in contrast to the reaction Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has received after it was disclosed that he once discussed Obama's presidential prospects in terms of his skin color and whether he had a "Negro dialect." Reid immediately apologized and Obama accepted, though some Republicans are calling for him to step down.

There was no way Obama could avoid acknowledging the statements from Reid, an important Democratic leader and legislative ally, but the president has far more leeway to ignore Blagojevich's latest strange behavior.

The twice-elected Democrat was impeached and removed from office last year after federal prosecutors arrested him on corruption charges that included trying to sell Obama's old U.S. Senate seat. He has pleaded not guilty.

Ahead of his trial, which is expected to start in June, Blagojevich is appearing on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice."

He also continues to accuse prosecutors of persecuting him for routine political deals.

One of those deals, he said, was the possibility of naming Attorney General Lisa Madigan to Obama's Senate seat in exchange for cooperation on important programs from her powerful father, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

He used an infamously coarse word to refer to the attorney general.

"If I can get this, how much do I love the people of Illinois to make that (expletive) senator?'" Blagojevich said in the interview.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The warden of a Topeka woman's prison is accused of making racially insensitive comments. The Topeka Capital-Journal reported on the allegations against Topeka Correctional Facility Warden Richard Koerner as part of an ongoing investigation.

The claims include that Koerner made a lynching reference while criticizing two black women who were reorganizing their office. One of the women, Mary Carr, says Koerner said something "to the effect that, 'You two wouldn't be happy if I hung you with a new rope."'

Is it just the clickety clack of your keyboard, your coworkers or classmates talking about what their Aunt Lottie gave them for Christmas or a particular tune? Always interesting to know these little bits o' information. :)

This is going to be a short blog... I was going to just make this a comment in my white Christmas thread but I thought it was worthy of its own space.

One of the most asinine things about work is the practice of buying one's boss a Christmas gift. Now, I'm not talking about a gift exchange where you draw numbers, straws, whatever and everyone participates (that in and of itself is a bit dumb as well but not quite as stupid as the subject at hand). I am talking about one representative of the staff going around collecting 5 bucks from everyone to purchase a gift for the boss man or woman. I never did understand this... First of all, doesn't this person make alot MORE than me salary-wise? So I am supposed to take from my measly, meager wages and contribute so that my boss can have yet another Precious Moments statuette to display in her much-nicer-than-my-own home.

Actually, at my current job, we don't practice this nonsense. The ironic thing is that my former boss here (she retired a few months ago) was one of the ONLY supervisors I've ever had who I would deem nice enough to purchase a gift for! Most of my bosses I could give a rat's ass if they have a merry Christmas, a happy Hannukah or a cool Kwanza. After we both clock out in the afternoon, you go your way and I go mine. Sayonara.

Okay, first of all, let's get the innuendo out of the way... For those of you who I have had banter with in threads pertaining to race, this has NOTHING to do with the color of anyone's skin. Let's get that out in the open and get past it. So shut yer yapper if that's where you were planning on going with the question at hand.

I just looked at the forecast and it said that Salina is supposed to have flurries (with a high of 29) on Christmas day. I didn't look at Lawrence's forecast but you guys are only a buck and change away from Salina so if we get snow, it is a good chance that you will as well.

To answer my own question, I don't want a white Christmas? Why? I am already tired of winter. I told my 15 year old son the other day I am getting too old for this cold. It is starting to affect me alot worse than it used to when I was his age, or even in my 20s. It cuts through me like steel and is relentless... Laughing at me with an evil cackle everytime I have to venture outside my door. I don't like winter. I don't like 100 degree weather either but anymore, I'd take that over 10 degrees.

As a few of you know, I live in Salina and as even fewer of you know, I had signed up for a city wide fitness deal called the Pounds Plunge. It was a 12 week stint of watching what we ate and exercising. There were weekly weigh ins at the YMCA and everyone's progress was tracked electronically.

Well the Pounds Plunge ended yesterday. I think I lost a total of 5 pounds. Yeh, I know, atleast I lost something and didn't gain any weight. And I realize that as a Tubby American (the new policitally correct term for lard butt), I must keep eating sensibly and exercising... The exercising part isn't that bad. I've always enjoyed working out. I don't mind cardio and I really like training with free weights as well as the nautilus-type weight machines. I have a membership to the Y as well as a 24 hour fitness center so I do have access to that sort of thing.

I will freely admit, however, that I enjoyed eating on Sunday. I knew I had no more weigh ins so I took my children out to eat at a breakfast buffet. I had french toast, whole grain pancakes, a sticky bun, some eggs (I am not a big egg fan but when I'm having breakfast, I need atleast a spoonful of them), a few hashbrowns, a slice of ham, quite a bit of bacon and fruit. Oh, I forgot, I have a biscuit with sausage gravy.

Don't pity the fat girl. Sometimes we're actually a happy bunch. We're not always jolly just for appearances, but many times we are jolly because damn that sticky bun certainly was delicious!!

Okay, so I actually made myself chuckle there... If nothing else becomes of this blog, atleast it was worth a little laugh for myself. :D

The title of this blog is a spin on the song "Pimpin' Ain't Easy" and I'm sure that neither profession is without complication. I once got offered $200 to perform a certain act on someone sitting next to me at a bar-- this was a regular little dive here in Salina-- no, I didn't take the money. LOL But it made me think of all that strippers have to go through pretty much every night that they work. To be real honest with you, I don't think that I could endure the constant objectifying. Not that I'm Pamela Anderson or anything, but the few physical traits that I do possess that maybe deemed "attractive" get noticed a bit too much when I do patronize drunken establishments and I am keeping my garments on the entire time! It would really get obnoxious if I removed my sweatshirt. Geesh!

To my fellow novel writers-- keep on plugging away! That sizeable dent I made in my 50K words hasn't grown any since last weekend. LOL You'll get there though... I may not get there with you... No, I will get there with you. Yay us!

With cuddles and smooches,

Honeychild (and no, that's not a stripper name... That's my phone sex name dammit. How dare you suggest such a thing!)

Okay, so I am reading my hometown's newpaper website, The Salina Journal online (http://www.saljournal.com/) and I noticed that our Chamber of Commerce has paid for Ms. I-Can-See-Alaska-From-My-Backyard to speak here in February. Not only that, but check out the list of names of former speakers... I must admit that I agree with my boyfriend when he termed Salina as being "the conservative, boring sister of Lawrence" (although I am sure some people would prefer Salina's atmosphere to Lawrence's just for the Republican'ness alone).

"On Monday afternoon, the chamber announced that former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be the guest speaker at its annual banquet Feb. 5.

Past guest speakers have included former President George H.W. Bush, former First Lady Barbara Bush, New York City Mayor and presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former British Prime Minister John Major and former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft."

Okay, so how many people knew the balloon boy thing was a hoax? Once I found out this family was on the reality television show "Wife Swap" not once, but TWICE, I pretty much knew the whole balloon boy thing was a load of hooey.

Did you catch it? I just happened upon it... Was waiting for Leno to go off and the news to come on. Anyway, he asks a different famous person 10 random questions every night and this time it was our esteemed former governor.

Hopefully this link will work. I can't access youtube at work. ;P

Help me out if you can put up a better link...

Anyway, I thought she was pretty deadpan (as usual), BUT i really liked her answer to the question about keeping our children safe-- She actually was pretty funny w/ her response. I also liked her answer when asked who would in in a game of horse, Kathleen or Obama.

I usually watch the Late Show w/ David Letterman but for whatever reason, did not last night. So I wake up and watch the CBS Early Show this morning and see a clip of Dave talking about how someone was trying to use extortion as a means to extract $2 million dollars from him:

On his late night talk show Thursday, David Letterman shocked fans by revealing that someone tried to extort him over "sexual relationships" he had with female employees.

"This morning, I did something I've never done in my life," Letterman, 62, told his audience. "I had to go downtown and testify before a grand jury."

He said he had received a package from an individual who claimed to have information on his flingsandnbsp; with female employees and threatened to go to the press unless Letterman handed over $2 million.

Letterman contacted the Manhattan District Attorney's office, who launched an investigation.

Investigators advised Letterman to mail a phony $2 million check to the individual, which led to the extortionist's arrest on Thursday. Police have identified Robert Halderman, 51, an Emmy Award-winning producer, as a suspect.

Asked if he had sexual relationships, "My response to that is, yes I have. Would it be embarrassing if it were made public? Perhaps it would," Letterman told his audience. "I feel like I need to protect these people - I need to certainly protect my family."

And John Travolta recently had to testify in front of a Bahamian court that someone was trying to blackmail him right after the death of his son (which is foul in the foulest sense of foul).

I personally like the way that David Letterman handled it. He didn't have to put himself on blast like that in front of a live audience, as well as millions of viewers. I suppose this goes down as being "the best defense is a good offense". He could've let it play out behind the scenes but he chose to shed light on it himself. No saint, of course, but a good strategy nonetheless and I do think it shows integrity on his part, considering the circumstances.

I wouldn't want to be famous. I think that would suck... Rich? Maybe. Famous? Naaaw.

This is going to be a very short blog because its basically just a rant. As most of y'all know by now, I am a former resident and still a semi-frequent visitor of your charming little hamlet. I love Lawrence... It has such a embracing spirit about it that I haven't encountered in any other town I've lived in or have even visited. Everyone I know, from California to Chicago, who have been to Lawrence (most of them musicians who are friends of my boyfriend and are scattered throughout) have nothing but positive things to say about it.

BUT.... I happened to drive though Lawrence yesterday and encountered the crappiest traffic clusterf**k I have seen in many years. I knew that there was construction on 23rd BUT i didn't know that it was for pretty much the entire length of the street, from Iowa to K-10, and that BOTH sides of the street would be messed up at the same time, making the flow of cars not flow at all.

Salina is my home and I do have my issues w/ it. Like most of Kansas, it is occupied by alot of right-wing boomers who see no other way of doing things other than the ways that their parents and grandparents carried on. My boyfriend (who is a Chicago native) calls Salina "Lawrence's boring, conservative sister". So don't get me wrong-- I'm not trying to act like my hometown doesn't have its problem. HOWEVER the public works department here does have the good sense to know that, when you are fixing a major thoroughfare, you do NOT close off BOTH lanes at the same dang time! When we are fixing a major artery like Crawford, Broadway, Ohio or South 9th street here, we fix one lane at a time just so atleast in one direction, traffic can still flow normally.

What the hell, Larryville? You almost had me cussing you out yesterday morning and afternoon!! Don't inconvenience me like that again, understand?!

Like alot of folks up in here, I belong to quite a few "online communities" (message boards, social networking places, blogging sites, etc). I personally belong or have belonged to everything from music communities to work-from-home messageboards to dating sites (the latter definitely belongs in the "used to belong to" category).

I am fairly new to this site. I am a former Larryville resident who still has some family in that town and still visits on a semiregular basis (Lawrence is and always will be one of my favorite places). A few months back, one of my Larryville cousins sent me a link to an article about a girl we grew up with who is making a name for herself in the Lawrence volunteering realm. In order to comment on the article about her I had to create and account and the rest is history. I belong to a couple of other newspaper sites, including the KC Star (KC is another former residence) and the Salina Journal (my present place of habitation). Neither one of them is as "community'ish" as the Lawrence Journal World's site. I really enjoy visiting and posting here and am starting to feel "at home", so to speak, because I am becoming more familiar w/ folks.

Anyway, I was thinking about how this site seems to have older members (by "older" i mean people mid 30s and up) and, I am not sure if there is any correlation, the regular posters seem to be smarter than other boards I have belonged to. I think folks up in here put a bit more thought into what they post instead of going off of emotion and ranting and raving like I've seen on other online communities.

And thank heavens for the fact that I see very little "text'ese" used here! I'm thinking that also has something to do w/ the median age being older as well.

What do y'all think? Is it just me or am I truly in the company of the cerebral and thought-filled on this site? Yes, you can ring your own bells and brag if you like. I'm just checking because if I am wrong about this being a smart people's site, that means I have been surrounding myself w/ cyber-idiots for the past 13+ years.

Okay, so I'm sitting here at work and feeling kind of bored. Sluggish, really, and in need of a power nap. "It's Monday..." I remind myself as I slowly go about performing my task. The job I have now is clerical and can get a bit teadious, however when I start to feel bored here, before I even allow myself to go down the "this job blows" path, I think about another job I've had which made Mondays suck even MORE than they naturally already do and I suddenly feel extremely appreciative for this job.

So I thought how I've had the "Worst Job Ever" converstation with other folks I've known and how it always illicits a laugh or two to hear about the trials and tribulations people have experienced while on the clock. Made me want to make a little list of the worst jobs I've ever had.

Working at the plant here in Salina where they make Red Barron pizzas. Its been here forever and if you know anyone from here, they have probably worked there too. My brother worked there for 14 years. He was a supervisor in one of the bakeries where they make the crusts. My best friend's 23 year old daughter currently works there and has for the past 4 plus years. Me? My tenure lasted all of 5 weeks. It was my 2nd shortest job ever (the shorted being 3 weeks spent at a part-time side gig I had in retail and that was during back-to-school season. two words: never again). Anyway, this plant is HUGE. It employs probably about 2,000 people and I think about 37 of them speak fluent English. The pizzas come down the conveyor belts usually at about 35 miles per hour... I was in packaging and it was my duty to grab the little yum-yums and throw them in boxes. Push the boxes on to the next person where they get put into even bigger boxes, sealed and sent on their ways to the adoring public. Sounds easy enough huh? Well the conveyor lines get stuck, sometimes clogged with cheese and the grossest, smellies toppings ever and then everything becomes one big multiethnic episode of I Love Lucy. However no one is stuffing these pizzas in their mouths.

Working in an insurance claim call center. That is the job that I remind myself of whenever I start to get bored at this one. Try coming to work on a Monday and sitting down at your station, only to find out that there are 400 calls queued up, just waiting for you to log into your phone/computer. The customers calling have been waiting most of the weekend to call this morning, thinking they'd get a jump start on things by calling first thing... And, of course, they find out that it ain't that simple and that NOW they will have to wait for a half hour on hold. By the time I'd speak to them, they were usually "madder than a wet hen" (as my mom would say) and ready to cuss me out. And many times, they DID. Oh well... they were just venting right? The next call will be better..... (Ha.)

Okay, so I am here at work right now... Hungry. Yes, I am watching what I eat. I haven't been eating all of the junk, visiting the evil vending machine, stocking up my desk drawer w/ healthy snacks (Craisins, reduced fat crap, 100 cal packs, etc etc). I went home at lunch and didn't eat anything. Not completely my fault. The kids ate up the bread so I couldn't make a sandwich. They also ate up the wheat crackers so I couldn't even have crackers and cheese! (Taking a personal inventory of why exactly I had children.....)

My favorite lunches are when my job caters and/or orders in food. I love eating on someone else's dime (one of the many splendid things in life), plus, the few times the organization I work for has sprung for lunch, it has always been from a quality place and I was able to fill my belly for free and be quite happy during and after the process. The only thing is, this rarely happens.... Maybe twice per year at best. So most of the time, darned it, I have to provide my own lunch.

I personally really like Smart Ones and Lean Cuisine entrees. They cook really quickly and always pack a nice little punch taste-wise. Of course, grilled cheese sandwiches are the bomb, but now that I am not eating alot of fat, they're pretty much out of the question (bummer!). Oh, and the tried and true standby of the PB&J-- or, as my cousin calls them "choke 'n slides".

Okay, this isn't really a full-fledged blog-- Its more like a quasi-rant. I just read where a woman somewhere is pregnant with 12 -- yep, a dozen-- babies. Here's a snippet from the article:

A woman in Tunisia is said to be pregnant with six boys and six girls, The Sun reported yesterday.

If the woman, a teacher in her 30s who was not named in the newspaper, successfully delivers all 12 infants, as she has vowed to do, she would be going against medical advice and shattering the world record for multiple births.

This is getting out of hand, people! This foreign chick is going to put the Octomom out of business-- we, as good Americans, cannot take this news without putting up a fight. We do things bigger and better here in the U.S. Nadya Suleman rules!

Okay, so I watched the newest spin on the Bachelor, a show called More to Love, which aired last Tuesday at 8 pm on Fox. My 15 year old son and I decided to tune in, solely because we had been inundated with commercials about the upcoming show for the past couple of weeks.

Normally I don't like the dating reality shows... I think they seem scripted, rehearsed and contrived. The only ones I half-way enjoy watching are the dating debaucles on VH1, and that is because VH1 someway, somehow finds the zaniest, most over-the-top characters in the reality show universe to showcase in the name of love. I ain't gonna lie, however demeaning the Flavor of Love, Rock of Love, I love New York, Daisy of Love and Real Chance of Love shows can get, they are almost always a hoot and definitely guilty pleasures.

Anyway, back to Fox.... This show sounded qausi-promising. The commercials stated somethng like, "The average female contestant on reality shows are a size 2 and the average American woman is a size 14/16-- how is THAT reality?!" So I'm thinking, "hmmm... yeh, i'll tune in and see what's going on."

The bachelor in this case is a 6'3'', 330 lb. teddy bear who seems to be a bit bland, but overall likeable. He said that he has had his own issues with size/weight and can relate to how a larger woman would feel when it comes to acceptability in the dating arena... Bring on the girls. There were 20 in all. Ranging in size from probably a 14 to a 22, and heights from about 5'2'' to 6'2''. They are all dolled-up, decked-out in really pretty dresses. Makeup done, hair looking great, accessories just right. All in all, this is a very attractive bunch of women, by probably most people's standards. And this TV-- so if you saw one of these chicks in real life, drinking a 7&7 at a bar w/ a bunch of girlfriends, I'm sure you'd take notice.

So it starts out promising. Nice build up via commercials, Beautiful host (the always lovely supermodel, Emme), Sweet guy, Cute girls. And then it rapidly started to go down hill......

For pretty much the remainder of the broadcast, we keep being subjected to snippets of almost every single one of these heffers crying and whining about how they have been rejected. How, when they go out w/ their girlfriends, they always get overlooked, how they have never found love. One girl says her fiance broke up w/ her because of weight (which leads me to believe she was a size 6 when they met and then found out how wonderful Ding Dongs really are), another very pretty brunette in her late 20s says she has NEVER had a date. And all I can think is.... WHY??! I mean WTH? Maybe because you're standing there crying, looking and acting like the proverbial shrinking violet, shoulders hunched with no confidence whatsoever. I don't care if you look like Halle Berry, the total lack of confidence and the subzero self esteem is a HUGE turn off to people. Men, women, whoever.

These broads are as abject, miserable and pathetic as can be. Oh, and I didn't mention DESPERATE. One girl asks another "If he asked you to marry him, would you?" and she says w/out missing a beat "OF COURSE I WOULD!" Okay, girlfriend, did you not JUST MEET this dude? And you're already hoping to marry him? mmm kaaay.....

Oh, and by the way, I myself am a plus sized woman. I wear a size 18 or 20, depending on whether or not elastic is involved in the waistline. And I have NEVER had difficulty attracting a man. Which only makes me more disappointed in Fox for airing this crap and even moreso in these women for putting themselves out there like that. Even Emme, in all her fabulousness, looks bored.

This isn't going to be a long post... I was just sitting here at work. I was looking at the wallpaper on my desktop. Its of a calico cat, standing on some green grass, watching attentively as if a juicy robin will plop itself right in front of her if she waits long enough.

I know the cat well. She is a member of my family, the only non-human who occupies our house. Her name is Sidewinder. A cat whose mother was a little calico, rescued as a kitten so young that we had to feed her feline baby formula. Her dad was a sealpoint Siamese named Caviar. Sidewinder truly has the best of both worlds; She has that calico coat that camoflages and makes her the most stealth of hunters on our block. And she has that intelligence that so many Siamese cats possess.

I have to admit that I admire Sidewinder... I guess that's obvious. How many people take the time out of their workday to post a blog about their pets?

Let the record show, though, that I am not a steadfast "cat person". As a child I grew up w/ family members who were canine as well. Cats are just lower maintenance and while I still have atleast one young child in the house (my youngest just turned 11 last week), the only pets I can foresee will be the kind who utilize litterboxes.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand, here are the reasons why I want to be my cat someday. Most of them will be pretty obvious:

The only thing I'd have to work at is how to look more regal whilst perched on top of my scratching post or the kitchen cabinets. Sidewinder has this down-pat. I lack the confidence to look upon everyone and everything w/ that "go to hell" stare.

I would get fed regularly but could also go catch a hot meal pretty much anytime I want.

Although I'd come from royal lineage (or atleast that's how she carries herself!), it would not be below me to take a sip out of the toilet from time to time.

I'd be worshipped by humans. Well, they wouldn't KNOW they were worshipping me, but hey-- they'd be going through the motions regardless.

Everyday would be a new adventure, even if that means I'd come across the occasional barking, chasing dog or a hostile kitty cat who is itching for a tussle. For the most part, life would be so nice. Getting petted, fed, talked to and loved... Going outside and then coming in again and then going outside.... Sounds monotonous but Sidewinder apparently enjoys doing this. And we don't let her outside in a timely manner, of course, out comes that Siamese YOOOWL!

So where do I sign up for that job? She must've been Mother Teresa in a former life... She had to have done SOMETHING really great to enjoy such a wonderful life!